Astoria: The Holders of Power Saga

Thank you for your interest in Astoria: The Holders of Power Saga! If you enjoy charming RPGs with epic, twisting storylines, containing intricate characters and cinematic cutscenes done in classic 90's, RPG-style storytelling, then ATHOPS is for you!

Or if you want to test the waters first, download the 3+ hour demo at the bottom of the page and stay tuned on updates... expected release of full game, late July 2017!

Description:

Astoria: The Holders of Power Saga is a charming, classically done RPG with an epic, twisting story, containing highly developed and intricate characters. It's approximately 30 hours of gameplay, with a story driven by intense cutscenes. The game's lore has grown immensely over the course of these 4 years of development, as I've gone back hundreds of years into the history of Astoria to help describe the playable world. This lore will come in handy if you decide to take on some of the more intricate quests of the game - some of the major quests begin at the outset of the game and aren't completed until a few hours from its end. The magic system is designed to add an extra layer of planning and strategy to combat, by encouraging the player to analyze the visible enemy and its environment, and choose the correct spells to bring into combat.

Story:

One hundred years ago, Astoria was invaded by the Supreme Demon, Buul, and his hordes of Demons. The people of Astoria and mighty King Romulus fought off the invasion as Romulus slew Buul in single combat after he ripped a blue stone from the Demon's armor. Witnesses on the field of battle stated the great Demon shrieked in fear and desperation as Romulus grasped the stone, and they swore it both invigorated him and gave him the strength to slay the massive Demon. After the Demons' defeat, it came to be known as the Stone of Power and it was assumed whoever possessed it would be all-powerful.

After many years of peace and prosperity, when he realized he had grown old, Romulus shattered the Stone into five pieces with his mighty hammer. He distributed the pieces to five individuals with opposing politics and interests to prevent the full Stone from ever being in the hands of the wrong person. These five came to be known as the Holders of Power.

The story begins at a meeting between the five Holders of Power and an unknown, shadowy figure who has evil intentions to re-form the Stone of Power once again.

One of the Holders of Power, the noble knight, Garreth, quickly learns that an assassination plot is afoot, and he and his piece of the Stone are the intended targets...

Play as Nolan, a young Prince arriving in Astoria from a far away land, desperately seeking reinforcements to defend his country from an invasion. Little does he know, Astoria will soon be in a similar situation. As his envoy quest quickly spirals out of control, he'll meet a colorful cast with their own storylines: Calista, the bubbly clairvoyant whose dreams sometimes predict the future, Petra, the young firebrand whose life will be turned upside down when she witnesses tragedy, the mysterious Cheshire, who arrived in Astoria under his own suspicious circumstances, and a host of other characters willing to lend a hand and fight for their right to survive.

Explore an expansive world where you will encounter hordes of vicious monsters. Conduct stealth missions, fight in a pitched battle, and uncover great mysteries. Experience the emotions of love, anger, hatred, and fear as each member of your party has their own gripping story arcs that intertwine with the main storyline. All of this is done in classic, 90's, RPG-style storytelling.

Features:

The Magic System

The people of Astoria have different "affinities" for magic. A party member can learn nearly 100 spells or skills, but each character has a limited number that can be brought into combat... and that defines their affinity. In ATHOPS, the mage and the clairvoyant can each "memorize" 8 spells and bring them to combat. The hero, Nolan, has a maximum of 3. The size of your party - which varies from 1 to 6 - and its cast greatly determine the amount and types of spells you bring to combat. Since there are nearly 100 spells... choose wisely. Will you arm your party with powerful elemental spells, amplifying buff spells, crippling debuff spells, or a combination of each for proper balance?

Customization and Replayability

Customize your party via the plethora of powerups found in hidden or guarded treasure chests. Find and slay fantastic beasts and claim their rewards that can be sold for additional equipment upgrades that permanently remain with your desired character. Defeat deadly dragons and choose massive stat bonuses for each character in your party before the dragon's essence dissipates into the air. Swap different weapons, armor, and item combinations among your party members to further customize how they battle. I made it a point to make the player give serious thought into how they wish to build out their party.

Plot-centric Assassination Events

One of the main characters in ATHOPS is the young girl, Petra. She has an arcing storyline that ties in with the main theme, and she vows to become an assassin, to avenge her parents' death. There are two scenes in ATHOPS where you control Petra in real-time assassination events. There are visible enemies on guard, and you have to sneak by them/assassinate them from behind without entering their "line of sight." So take your time, notice patterns, and have patience! Remember, assassins never give in to their emotions! Hopefully these will be as enjoyable for you to play as they were for me to make.

- 35+ hours of gameplay - 20+ side quests (some small and some large, spanning the entire game) - 220+ maps - 130+ weapons & armor, 140+ items, 175+ skills/spells (unique enemy skills included) - A total of 16 party members, constantly moving in and out of the party in accordance with the plot! - Highly developed main characters with tons of in-game dialogue!- Nearly 1 hour of dramatic, cinematic cutscenes! - Overworld map/hidden enemies, Dungeon maps/visible enemies - 2 High action, REAL TIME stealth/assassination events! - Be challenged by a group of "heroes" for status/bragging rights via intense "hero to hero" combat! - Find and fight a total of 6 "challengers" inhabiting towns/villages in 1 on 1 combat with no items to test a character's might! - 9 Dragons to find and kill that grant the party bonus statistics you can distribute to tailor your characters however you like! - 8 Side quest bosses and their drop items that can be converted into unique equipment upgrades by a specialty blacksmith

Comments

Playing game for 2nd time. Really enjoyed the characters and storyline. I'm trying to take my time and complete the bestiary, but I'm still missing 030 and 039. I've got the aromatic plant to heal Nolan. I don't want to make any further progress until I fill in these two. I fear it may be too late for 030. Help appreciated.

So 030 is one of the challenger fights. His name is Thrain, he stands next to the food stand in Cruxis... but he leaves Cruxis after you save Gardenia (which is where you are now).

Entry 039 is Lillia, another challenger event. She's the blue haired elf that stands in the southeast corner of Gardenia. She leaves after you awaken Nolan with the flower, so you CAN still fight her and get her entry in the bestiary.

Do your best to talk to everyone in every town and if you run across a challenger you have a limited time to fight them and get their entry.

Don't worry about going back and getting Thrain... play the game more and when you get to Bardstown and run into the guy with the interest in the Bestiary hit me up on Twitter and I'll see if I can get a fix in for you. Or... email me your save file. My email is gold3nunicorngaming@gmail.com

Duh, I completely forgot about those challenges. It's okay. I have a saved game before I headed into Gardenia and it doesn't take that long to clear out Gardenia. I keep comparing the current bestiary to my saved game at the end of my first playthrough. There were several missed ones the first time (including 030 and 039), so I'm sure I'll be back later with more bestiary queries. Let me just reiterate how much I truly enjoy this game, the graphics, the characters, and the storyline. Great job!

I definitely check this daily in case people need assistance but I'm always available almost immediately on Twitter (@GoldUniGaming) and I have no prob whatsoever assisting. And like I said, if you don't wanna go back, I can easily figure out a way to help you complete the bestiary at a later date, when it's time to be complete has arrived!

Stuck at the bit where you have to save Calista's brother. The second set of ogres are way too difficult to fight with my sapped resources, but I can't go back to restock. Is there anything that can help me?

Do you have a prior save to maybe go back a few fights and do things differently? Do you have a poison spell? The ogres are your last obstacle at the mountain so blow everything you've got and don't fear a boss fight or anything. Let me know if you still can't get past and I'll see if I can't figure it out for you.

In the northwest corner of that cave is a treasure chest with a Fire Scroll. Memorize the scroll and hit the troll with fire. It will remove his regeneration! (If you read the book in Calista's house, it will tell you that) Happy gaming!

Only for the easy transition to other platforms. But it's definitely not worth my time redoing everything. This game has been way too long in the making and I'm very pleased with the end result. Additionally, I'm not that big a fan of the MV graphics and it would require additional thousands of dollars to port the graphics over. Besides, I can get ATHOPS to port over to MAC now, but I need to eliminate the screen resizing script (kinda sucks, but not game-breaking).

Hi. In a cave where there was a mistake (when you come into it) now everything is all right earlier. But here a question - there I so understand nothing not yet, but is planned? Just bypassed all also nothing:).

P.S: If in a demo there is also something, don't speak where, I will find.

Hi. Noticed changed force to a spider, it seems, after updating. And also noticed that in shop in Cruxis city, some strong rolls of magic, and also elixirs, and the best шмот in a game ceased to be on sale. It is possible to learn why?

Yes. Those scrolls weren't supposed to be available until after you kill the Ogre. That is now fixed with the update, just like the access to the ship and the heroes on the docks should not be there, either. All of that was tied together, and now that I fixed the error, they should not be there anymore.

Maybe I missed something. But it seems after there was an updating, I can't buy the improved armor and rolls of magic in a game as they aren't on sale. (regardless of what level of the hero since 10). Isn't present on sale: Heal 2, Freeze from magic rolls; things from armor, weapon and elixirs. It is somehow connected with a mirror which can be received at the first visit of Cruxis in the house of the fashion designer or it happened after updating?

I brought the small monetary contribution for the help to your creativity here and I had a question - effects or the fact that it is necessary for that how many brought finance - when are? When a game is completely ready? And how to understand that I received them or I will receive? Forgive if already tired you with the questions.

Thank you for the contribution! I will message you via Kickstarter, but for others reading this, the game will be released in May 2017 at the latest. Early access to the alpha/beta is available through the Kickstarter.

But there is one question. Prompt what to do after my group was entered by Gideon, Celeste, Ramsey and Cole? I bypassed all card and I do not know where to go; there are two bridges, but there protection and me they do not pass. There is still a cave one, but there I cannot come - a game gives an error message and takes off. Help, please, can and it is conceived!This is my group,